Encore
by Jill Rocca
Summary: They all thought they'd never see each other again after they all lost touch with one another. Somehow their journeys after college lead them to the city of brotherly love where they meet once again. What will happen?
1. High School Reunion

**Title: Encore  
Author: jillrocca  
Fandom: High School Musical (y'know, that Disney franchise?)  
Pairings: I give you NOTHING.  
Summary: They all thought they'd never see each other again after they all lost touch with one another ... at least, that's what they thought. Somehow all their journeys fresh out of college lead them to the city of brotherly love where they meet once again. What's going to happen now?  
Warning: Self-beta'd**

**Chapter 1: High School Reunion**

Part I. Thursday

Troy Bolton stepped into his new apartment with a sigh. In his hands he held the last of his moving boxes. It had been one hell of a haul driving to here all the way from California, but as his new boss told him, "it'll all be worth it, Troy." Yeah, so he said, but Mr. Big shot executive producer slash director in Hollywood had a private jet he could _fly_ to his place and pay someone else to drive his stuff for him. Troy was stuck with his truck and a moving pod-thing he had rented for about a week. At least he had help with his couch and bed and the like. That guy had left after they had successfully moved all his furniture and heavier boxes in to return the … moving pod? Troy could never remember what the thing was called, but as long as all his stuff was still in one piece that was all he cared about.

He put the box down in the small foyer and fell on top of his couch. Twenty-two shouldn't feel so old. The only reason he was here was because the show maker he had interned for almost all his college breaks was moving to Philadelphia to set up a production company there. He had told Troy it was highly unlikely for anyone in Hollywood to move somewhere _not_ New York, but he was "ready to take a risk," he had said.

He had also said, "Troy, I want to offer you a full time job to become an assistant director and a writer for my company … at least to start," which, Troy having no other prospects other than to apply for grad school (which he planned to do … eventually) said yes and here he was. New city, new life, it felt strange and also strangely exciting.

He had managed to get a pretty awesome place under his budget that he could totally afford. His parents had covered most of the expenses as part of his graduation gift, along with buying him a new truck to help him move all the stuff. He would be comfortable until next month's pay. The only unfortunate thing was that his job would begin in four days and that was probably not enough time for him to get all his stuff set up all by himself. But! He would have to try and try he did. By midnight he was satisfied enough with his kitchen and living room, had set up his bed, had put some clothes in his closet, and set out his toothbrush.

"Great," he said. He ate the rest of the Thai food he had bought at a place around the corner and went to bed. He'd worry about finding a grocery store and the other stuff later.

---

Gabriella Montez sat nervously at her new job. She was the personal secretary for some lawyer in Philadelphia while she paid her way through law school at the University of Pennsylvania. She went to her classes in the morning and had one class at night on Tuesdays and had her job sandwiched in between. She had thought that this would get her closer to the actual cases, but not really. She sighed. She supposed this was how it would all begin. She would get through law school handling files and calls for other professionals before she became one herself.

The guy she worked for burst through his office door. Having come to expect this every morning, she turned to face him in her chair instantly. He was kind of a hard-ass by the way he was always asking her to get up and do things as if he enjoyed seeing her struggle. He smiled at her in a funny way as he said good afternoon to her. She replied with a good afternoon and then of course …

He slammed some files onto her desk and said, "Ms. Montez, I want you to go through all these case records, copy them, scan them and put them onto your hard drive then run the copies to Bill, let him look at them and then when he's done give the copies to—" and on it went … a simple e-mail might have sufficed, but no, he wanted it a specific way and if she had any inkling of hope at keeping her job, she would just have to do it. _Damn._

"Sir," she said, "Why don't you just have me e-mail them to everyone?" She asked politely.

He smiled a little, "Because Bill, Mary, and all the others only need specific files,"

"Why can't I just give it to them in an e-mail?" She asked again.

"Well, that's why you have them on your hard drive, give them whatever files and copies they need and then just in case, e-mail the rest to them. Make sense?"

"Yes," She said, trying not to let her frustration show on her face. What would happen if she looked for a new job? Perhaps an internship somewhere else maybe? God, she knew this guy was a jerk when she interviewed for him, but she had no other options. Now that she was settled in the city, maybe now she'd better know what to look for?

But she was always picking up and moving somewhere else … it was like a bad habit that wouldn't go away. Maybe she should stay with this guy who liked to make her go all the way out of her way to do random things for him … damn, what was she going to do?

---

Chad Danforth stared around at his new life in awe. How and when had he become so fortunate? When did this happen? He couldn't believe the size of it, look at all this space! And the chairs! It was like nothing he had ever dreamed of!

Someone tapped him on his shoulder. He turned around beaming at his new basketball coach. The man held up a jersey with the number 8 on it. Chad was officially a Philadelphia 76er. Basketball was his life and while he had studied growth and structure of cities at the University of Albuquerque, this was what he really loved. He could deal with city planning later … or not, whatever. He would _not_ screw this up.

The Wachovia Stadium was huge! Just … so many rows of seats, he could not imagine how it would be when an actual game was going. All the screaming people, the cameras and the film crews. Just so much! He could picture it in his mind if he closed his eyes. It made him smile more. He was too excited. Although he was already twenty-two, he felt about fifteen years younger.

"I'll see you at practice on Monday," he coach said, and left. He knew Chad was relishing the triumph of his new job. The kid was something special, he could tell.

Chad could not wait. He wanted to find someone and share his news with them. He needed to share this moment with someone and someone with a face right in front of him for the instant gratification of knowing what emotions played across their face. Well, at least he'd hoped they be happy feelings. Then his face fell as he realized he was pretty much alone here in Philadelphia. He hadn't made any new friends yet. He'd been so focused on those try-outs for such a long time and then he'd been counting on just getting to know his team and that'd be it, except that he hadn't really met-met the team on a personal level yet. They were there when they'd signed him to the team right out of college, but not so much right now. Maybe later, when they were actually practicing and they could see his skill …

And Chad knew he also couldn't be that self-important … it was just the adrenaline rush of actually being able to play in the NBA, his dream since early childhood. Was it too much to do to take himself out to dinner? Yeah, he _would_ do that … tomorrow, on Friday. Even if he felt lonely, he wouldn't for long. New city, new job, new life, and with all that newness there must be some new friends involved. Right? It was part of the four "news" that came with moving to a completely new place right? Maybe there were five news … of who knew.

---

Part II. Friday

Taylor McKessie smiled broadly and shook the hand of the Mayor of Philadelphia.

He said, "I look forward to working with you Ms. McKessie!" to which she almost shivered with excitement. As a recent Yale grad at the top of her class, an impressive resume of internships, and now attending grad school at Villanova University, here she now was acquiring an official public service job! It was wonderful. The governor said how much he liked her in her interview and how much he needed her skills …

It was just too much! After how hard she had worked through high school and college to get here … well, it was sort of anti-climactic. But she was still looking forward to her new job and her new classes even if she did have to attend those classes right after work on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. At least not on Friday! _And_ she didn't have to work Saturday or Sunday, which was an added bonus to her new job. Her tasks at the Mayor's office were a little smaller than she had hoped, but they were still large and an asset to the community. She was basically working under him and some other officials to help them get things done. If she wanted to be President by the time she was thirty-five, she needed to start somewhere, right?

"I look forward to working with you too!" She said happily.

"All right, you take care now." The Mayor said.

"And you! I'll see you on Monday!" And she left.

She checked her watch. It was about seven in the evening, how long had she been talking to the guy about her job? Geez. It was time for some dinner, but where? This city, while not as huge as New York, was still pretty big. She had explored around her neighborhood a little, but there weren't any real restaurants there.

She asked the receptionist if she knew any good places to eat.

The receptionist said, "Why don't you try Walnut Street or Sansom. Oh! Chestnut Street has some good restaurants!" Taylor thanked her. She sat in her car five minutes later thinking, _now how to get there …_

---

Ryan Evans held his cell phone about an arms length away from his ear. The voice at the other end of the line was saying, "I can't believe you! I can't believe you! I got this place in Society Hill and you go get some place on Walnut Street! Walnut! Ryan, you said you were moving to Chestnut!"

He brought the phone back to talk to the other voice, "Sorry sis, we're not _that _far apart. Besides, you live with your boyfriend now, do I really want to be that close? I like my place."

"Yeah, wouldn't you like a boyfriend of your own …"

Ryan's mouth twitched, "It would be nice to have someone who cooks for me, yeah."

"Speaking of, where are we going to eat again? I'm starving." Sharpay's longtime boyfriend was working a dinner shift at his restaurant job.

"Fogo de Ch_ã_o—it's a Brazilian steakhouse."

"A _what_?"

"It smelled good from outside the shop, you'll like it!"

"As if that's a basis for planning where you go to eat! Has living in New York taught you nothing?" Sharpay snapped at him. She feared as if he might need a high society tune up again. Maybe she could find Ryan a date and they could double date their way up to the Evans's house in Newport, Rhode Island. Not only had he moved away from New York to pursue an acting job here in Philadelphia, but turned down a job in Hollywood! She was only in Philadelphia because she had snagged a musical part at the Kimmel Center. She was playing a minor character, but with a lot of lines. She was born for this. She would have this role, everyone would see her genius and then it was off to stardom.

She rolled her car around onto Chestnut Street almost colliding with someone who was obviously lost. She rolled her eyes and told Ryan she'd be there in a minute; just needed a parking space. She could see Ryan standing idly outside of some restaurant that looked fancy enough. She sniffed; maybe he'd done a good job after all for their little meet-up.

Ryan caught his sister's eye in her car and waved at her. He could see her looking at the restaurant with a critical eye. He knew she was having trouble finding a fault with it. It was a particularly windy day in September. He adjusted his Jeff cap smiling a little. After a year of being apart, Sharpay had said she couldn't take attending U of A and had transferred to NYU to study acting. Ryan knew she wouldn't last long in their theater department. It would never be up to her standards even though their father had spent so much to go into the program (the school had even named their auditorium after the twins), but he still happily paid her tuition at NYU, where she had—to Ryan's amazement and delight—succeeded in starring in two big productions put on by the school, which was where she might have landed her new job as a performer at the Kimmel Center.

After graduating Julliard himself with a degree in acting and choreography, he had auditioned for a new television series they would be producing and filming her in Philadelphia and he had landed the part of a major character. He was excited, but even as he thought this, he smiled listlessly to himself watching his sister park her car in a spot near the restaurant (which she had effectively stolen from someone who looked a little lost).

He contemplated feeling a lonely in this city even with his sister thinking about just how single he was around when someone else caught his eye. A young guy … tall with dark brown hair. Hot body accentuated by his fitted jeans and that blue top … so cute. He looked a little lost too. Well, it would only be so unkind for Ryan to not help the guy out and maybe ask to go for a drink later … or right now. Ryan would also make it a point to know what guys' name he might be calling for later … but then as the guy came closer Ryan realized that he already knew his name.

"_Troy Bolton?"_ Ryan was astonished.

A car horn blared and Troy—he was sure it was Troy—had turned around to see Sharpay climbing out of her car and waving frantically at him saying, "Troy! Troy!" She ran over to him as fast as her four-inch heels would allow giggling all the way.

She practically threw herself on him and grabbed him for a hug. "It's been so long! We must have dinner! Ryan!" She snapped at him, her tone going from sweet to saucy. "Get them to put us at a table for three!" She hissed.

Troy had no time to actually say or do anything. Sharpay steered him towards the door of Fogo de Ch_ão._

Ryan was at a loss for words, but then he saw the woman whom Sharpay had stolen her parking space from get out of her car in a huff. She looked and saw the back of Sharpay's head and started walking towards it. But then another voice caught her attention from Ryan's other side.

"Taylor? Taylor McKessie?"

The woman turned. Ryan saw that it was Taylor; she had definitely grown up. She looked so … stately in that business suit. And to his right was Gabriella Montez holding her blazer close to her against the wind. She smiled as Taylor began to recognize her. Taylor's initial anger at Sharpay had dissipated and she was now running towards her former best friend. They kept screaming, "It's been so long! It's been so long!" What had happened to those two, Ryan wondered. And here were Gabriella and Troy on the same street ... were they meeting each other or something? Damn. If possible, Troy had gotten even hotter since high school.

As he turned his head back to the right as the two girls hugged right in front of him, he saw a just-as-hot-as-Troy black guy coming up the street and smiling in his direction. Taylor looked up from her vice grip with Gabriella and said, "Chad?" breathlessly. Okay … were they together too? By her tone of voice this sounded like another haphazard encounter. Or was she just so happy to see him after a long day at work? _Damn._ Troy also whipped his head around to look at the person coming towards them all.

"Chad?" He said. He managed to peel himself away from Sharpay's grip and walk towards him. The two men stared at each other and then grabbed each other's hand as if to shake and then pulled each other in and into a 'man hug'."

"No basketball under the arm?" Troy asked. They both laughed.

Gabriella looked shocked and a little hurt, but still she said, "Troy?" Taylor who had looked happy at the sight of seeing so many of her old friends together looked a little downcast at Gabriella's expression and Ryan could tell she too was wondering what had happened to those two in California.

Troy turned slowly and disengaged out of his man hug with Chad to face her. He looked a little perplexed and said, "Gabriella." A little surprised, but also his reply was curt and it sort of held in the air. It was easy to tell Troy was not expecting to see him

Gabriella had seen a brown-haired guy and a blonde woman about to walk into the restaurant and now she looked past Troy to better see just who that blonde woman was. She started with, "Who is … Sharpay?" She said Sharpay's name sounding a little on edge.

"Sharpay _Evans_?" Chad said as if wondering what the hell East High's Drama Queen could be doing here in Philadelphia.

Ryan was more wondering how the hell everybody ended up in the same place. And why the hell no one was happy to see him! He had been their friend … hadn't he? Were all those nights spent at Gabriella's house over the summer after work at his family's country club before senior year for nothing?

To break the tension, or maybe to contribute to it, Ryan finally spoke up. He asked the group at large, "This is too much. Am I really going to be the one to say it?"

They all finally turned to him. They all looked so shocked to find him standing there the entire time.

"What the he—you know what?" Ryan said. He changed his mind half-way through; he knew they were all thinking it. An idea suddenly struck him, "Dinner. Let's have dinner. On me and Sharpay."

Sharpay gaped at him and he walked into the restaurant without. He didn't look back at her.

* * *

**Yes, I know. Everyone has really fitting jobs. Except Gabriella, I guess, but there will be compromises. I KNOW not every college grad starts out with a super awesome job that totally fits who they are as a person. I tried to make the descriptions realistic … continue … yes? No?**


	2. A Toast

**Title: Encore****  
****Author: ****jillrocca****  
****Fandom: High School Musical****  
****Pairings: I give you NOTHING. (Do I even know myself?)****  
****Summary: They've all met up again. Ryan's curiosity as to why more than half the group split leads him to suggest they get dinner much to Sharpay's and Gabriella's dismay. BUT! As their stories are revealed, can the friendships and relationships patch up once again? Or will they lose themselves in the big city and go back to ignoring one another?****  
****Warning: Self-beta'd and quickly too.**

**A/N: Also, did I say Sharpay worked at the Kimmel Center? I mean the Academy of Music; they do musicals. Kimmel Center is more like plays and such.**

**Chapter 2: A Toast**

**It was an interesting ordeal securing a table for six when Ryan had only asked for a table for two earlier. Even if he was an Evans, no one knew that here or probably didn't even care. Yet.**

He walked right up to the hostess and said, "Ryan Evans party of two … plus four?"

The hostess said, "Very good Mr. Evans," but then she raised her head from the list of names she had and looked quite taken aback. She said, "Plus four? We only have you written down as party of two." She raised her eyebrow quizzically at him.

"Yes, but … we came together and turned into six?" Ryan didn't even want to bother explaining to her. There was no point. It would take hours and he was starving now.

She nodded as if she understood, but he could tell she didn't really. She said, "Wait here Mr. Evans and I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you," Ryan said.

He turned to Sharpay and the plus four. He shrugged and told them she would check if they had a table available.

Chad and Troy were staring around at all the splendor warily. The walls were made of wine racks that were stacked to the ceiling. There were some art pieces thrown around the walls to break up the amount of alcohol that was kept in the walls: pictures of the restaurant's history and its founders. There were tables with white linens and fancy glassware all over the place—everything looked so orderly. The lights were dim, but despite all of that the atmosphere felt truly inviting. There were people scattered all over and seemed to be having a really good time. Sharpay had nothing to fear. While this place was—well, Ryan didn't actually know what the hell Sharpay had been so vexed about in coming here. Ryan knew how to pick a restaurant, a damn good restaurant at that. However, looking at Chad and Troy who still seemed new to this whole display of wealth thing in their old acquaintances, Ryan thought maybe they should have gone to … well, whatever, this place had meat. Guys like Troy and Chad liked meat didn't they? They were jocks in high school. According to Ryan, therefore they had to.

The others were giving him that look that said, "You really don't have to do this, I'm content with just eating a cup of noodles or ordering pizza back at my place. Really, you don't have to do this …" But Ryan ignored them and turned his back to look for the hostess again. That of course left Sharpay to shoulder their cries of concern.

"Look you guys don't have to do this for us. I mean, we all just sort of met randomly and this is just … so much." That was Troy. "Thank you guys, really, but I just don't think I can accept."

Ryan turned and gave Troy his most winning smile and said, "Really, it's okay. My treat. You suddenly meet all your high school friends at once and you have to celebrate. With _style_!" He put his hands together and pulled them apart like jazz hands with that last note.

Troy and the others looked like they were going to laugh, but then the hostess came back and said, "Mr. Evans, your table is ready."

"Oh, Great!" Ryan said. The hostess led them through an array of tables and finally sat them at theirs. The idea behind this place was for the patrons to receive a continuous service of about fifteen different meat courses and the guests could go to the buffet for an array of traditional Brazilian sides.

When Ryan took off his hat and jacket he was happy he had chosen to wear the khaki slacks, layered white t-shirt under a gray henley and that black corduroy blazer he was so fond of. He hated to say it in the midst of all this, but he looked hot. He had recently colored his hair about a tone darker for his upcoming television role. Despite his trademark being his hat, he took it off to show off his new cut, he could give the excuse they were in a restaurant.

Gabriella laughed at him as he removed his hat. She said, "I don't think I've ever seen you take off a hat willingly," She meant it jovially enough that Ryan chuckled too.

"Well, we're in a restaurant." Ryan said nonchalantly with a shrug.

The way the round table they were sitting at was set up, Ryan had Chad on his left, Troy on his right. To Troy's right sat Sharpay, then Taylor and then Gabriella. The table made for close quarters.

Troy thought to himself, _thank God I showered_ …He had been moving his boxes around since eight in the morning. He was just about satisfied with the way the place looked except for hanging pictures and whatever up. He had decided to shower and take a walk hoping to find dinner and a place to recycle all his boxes. He had found both. He could recycle just behind his building and now Ryan was offering him free food. Which was just as well because he had put off going to the grocery store until the next day. He had also hoped to meander down the road and find one that was close by, but he had been side tracked by that mini mission for dinner with the Evans twins.

He had thought that they might be overdressed, as usual from what he remembered of his high school days. Then he remembered what kind of place they were in. Those two must have been planning to come here. He looked across the table at Gabriella who looked a little upset. Well, _she ought to be,_ Troy thought. Seeing Gabriella for the first time in years was a big surprise for him. What was she doing in Philadelphia of all places? He was sure she had a good reason and hopefully it wasn't a reason that he was thinking of. But after the way that they parted, he couldn't even believe he had let that thought play on his mind even for an instant. She was smart and would know better.

He averted his gaze to look at the others. Taylor looked perfectly dressed for the occasion in her suit even though he knew she hadn't planned this. Chad didn't look bad himself either. He seemed to have grown up a bit, at least on the outside. He had left his mane intact, but at least he seemed to have found a way to tame it and trim it down. He looked good. He was wearing a simple oxford dress shirt and black dress pants. Where he had intended to go in that outfit, Troy had no idea.

Sharpay's hair had gone about two shades lighter and shorter since high school, but was still just as curly. Her fashion sense hadn't changed much. She was wearing a simple light pink dress that went just past her knees. It had a V-neck that wasn't too showy. It kind of flowed when she moved, but didn't deviate from just the right curves on her body. Her heels were strappy and golden and showed off a French pedicure.

Ryan also looked really good. He had gone a shade darker in hair color unlike his sister. He let his hair grow, but still kept it short, the style looked good on him. He also smelled really good. He wore a fitted gray top and black blazer … and those pants … Troy had never been known to take particular notice of Ryan Evan's waistline and hips, but today was an exception. He looked really smart in that blazer too. The only problem with these thoughts about Ryan was that Chad Danforth was thinking the exact same thing.

Ryan started to explain to them all the way the restaurant was set up when the first course of meat came. The chefs began dishing their plates and once they started it didn't seem to stop. They began taking turns getting up for sides so that no one would come back with a pile of meat on their plate. Eventually Ryan turned over the colored disc that indicated whether or not they wanted to be served meat or not and they could finally start eating. Ryan ordered a couple of bottles of wine and they toasted.

"To the city! It brought us together once again!" Ryan said.

"Cheers!" Everyone else said.

Ryan was quite pleased with himself. Now they could get down with what they had all been up to. "Okay, so let's begin," Ryan said after taking a sip of wine. "Who wants to start, Taylor? Chad? Gabriella? Troy? Sis? What have you been up to?"

Sharpay glared at Ryan, "You know what I've been up to."

Ryan only rolled his eyes and put his elbow on the table to stare over Troy at her inquiringly. Sharpay sensed he was mocking her and she sighed. "Well, I spend a year at University of Albuquerque and then I transferred to NYU to study acting. Happy?" She asked Ryan.

Ryan nodded vigorously. He leaned back in his seat. "What are you doing _now_, Shar?" He asked as if he were a little kid.

She rolled her eyes and took up her wine glass. After a sip she said, "I'm working at the Academy of Music. I have a part in a musical." She said directly to him putting emphasis on choice words. She sounded like she was talking to a little kid. She closed her eyes and took a long sip of wine and began eating some of her food.

"Oh Sharpay, that's so exciting," Gabriella said. That was Ryan's line … except he would have sounded a little more mockingly than she did. She actually sounded sincere and that smile, she was still the same Gabriella as far as her mannerisms went.

Sharpay smiled. "What about you Gabriella?" Sharpay, in spite of her feelings towards the girl in high school, was being nice. Troy, Chad, and Taylor were a little taken aback.

Gabriella smiled and said, "Well, after graduating Stanford, I wanted to go to Stanford Law, but UPenn had a better program to me, so I came here and started working at a law firm while I'm at school." She shrugged after saying this.

"Congratulations," Ryan said, "How's that going?"

"It's okay, a little hectic, but manageable. I'm actually thinking about starting an internship, at a different firm though," She said.

Ryan nodded. "Why?" He asked.

"Oh, right now I'm just a secretary." Gabriella explained.

"Oh," Sharpay said. She took another swig of her wine while trying to hide a smug smile. Gabriella was visibly upset about her current job. At least one of them was living their dream. "What about …" Sharpay searched the table, her eyes landed on, "Taylor! What are you up to?"

Taylor looked a little surprised Sharpay had turned to her so suddenly, but still went, "Well, after Yale I got a really good job at the Mayor of Philadelphia's office and I wanted to continue into grad school so I applied and got into Villanova."

"Really?" Troy seemed really surprised by this. He asked, "Why 'Nova?"

Taylor replied calmly, "Well, I wanted to go somewhere like Bryn Mawr, but for example, their polysci program is only undergraduate. I couldn't find any other programs close enough."

"Really? Is Villanova any good then?" Troy asked. He seemed genuinely concerned.

Taylor now took up her wine glass and shrugged as if she didn't know what to do with her situation. She said, "I may transfer. I don't know where this job will take me right now. I start on Monday. So I'll just have to see." She shrugged again.

"Oh cool! I start my job on Monday too." Troy said.

Ryan turned to him and said cheerily," And how do _you_ do, Troy?"

Troy chuckled a little and looked down as he picked at his meat with his fork. "Ehe, at Berkley I got to intern with a movie producer, so I work for him now."

That surprised Ryan. He didn't know what he had expected Troy to say, but now he was curious. "Oh, what's the producer's name?"

Troy frowned a little. He knew the Evans twins were into acting, but Ryan wouldn't honestly expect to network _now_. Would he? Still, Troy obliged Ryan. He said, "Richard Astrella."

"No way! Of the Astrellus Production Company?" Ryan said knowingly.

Troy nodded.

"Oh, I work for him out here too." Ryan seemed happy, but not like happy when Sharpay had thrown her arms around Troy earlier. He had a calm sort of happy. Troy appreciated this difference in the twins. Ryan was eccentric, but a lot less so than his overly ambitious sister. That still didn't stop him from gaping from surprise at Ryan though.

However, inside Ryan's chest was thumping hard. He could only handle so many strange twists of fate. Troy was still gaping at him. "R-really?" Troy asked.

"Yeah," Ryan was starting to get excited.

Sharpay stared at them. Maybe her brother would finally get laid was all that was going through her head at the moment. Over their heads Chad was also staring at them, he looked a little enviously at Troy. Gosh, as if he had never given the other jock _that _jealouslook before. She rolled her eyes. Had both these boys suddenly become gay in college? She didn't know what had happened to GabriellaandTroy and ChadandTaylor, but it was obvious that they had broken up and lost touch. Gosh, she needed to stop drinking her wine and serve these boys more. God! She needed to know. She needed to know!

"Yes, Ryan's going to be on that show … what's it called again Ry?" Sharpay said in her sweetest voice that sounded sickly to anyone else.

"Oh, uh … _Evolver_. It's about a band called 'Earls Gris' trying to make it, but of course there's drama because they have a secret, but ultimately, it's a comedy. The way Mr. Astrella explained it the characters are going to be put through a range of human emotions and circumstances. There'll be rival bands and whatnot, you know. It'll air on HBO next year, probably in February." Ryan explained. "Hopefully earlier."

"That sounds interesting," Taylor said, "Who are you in the show?" She asked Ryan.

"I'm the lead singer!" He said happily. "But he's not really the main character."

Sharpay knew Ryan had been waiting entirely too long for a guy to pop up in his life. In New York while Sharpay was busy with her blooming romance with her current boyfriend, Ryan was stuck in his studies. All he cared about was acting, dancing, singing, eating, sleeping, and basically everything not romance. She herself devoted a lot of her time to her craft, but Ryan was just a little sad. She had thought her brother was losing hope. Sure, Ryan had gone out on dates, but he was twenty-two! He was so young and yet so single. Not hat she wanted him with Troy or Chad in particular—of all people to pick up—but it would be nice to see him with someone at least for a little while.

Sharpay would have to work on this.

"I'm in the NBA," Chad said. Everyone turned and looked at him. Troy re-commenced his gaping. Actually, they were all gaping at him. Chad thought he was stupid to say that so bluntly … but he didn't know what came over him. Just seeing Ryan so impressed with Troy and hearing that they were now working together made him feel, well, jealous. Even after not seeing him in so long, Chad wanted to seem more impressive. That was a bad way to start. He knew it and yet he couldn't stop himself from blurting that out.

"Chad! That's so awesome!" Of course, Troy was happy for him, but he couldn't be happy for his supposed best childhood friend. "Oh my god! That's so … that's just so … you've always wanted that! And here you are just out of college—this is so, so awesome!" It was safe to say that Troy was excited.

"Yeah, Chad, that's amazing!" Ryan said. Chad felt satisfied, which might also be a bad thing. Why was he so keen on impressing Ryan? Just because the guy looked good in a pair of fitted khakis didn't mean that he wanted to—or did it?

"Thanks," Chad said directly to Ryan. Ryan smiled at him.

Taylor proposed a toast. "To grad school!" Taylor said.

"To grad school!" Gabriella said.

Troy said, "To hit TV shows and tickets at the Wachovia center!"

Sharpay said, "To going to get everything."

Chad said, "To this city again!"

Ryan ended with, "To our dreams and aspirations, may they be as full as this glass is about to be empty!"

**TBC …**

… **With Troy and Ryan's first day of work on **_**Evolver**_** at the Astrellus Production Company. Also, I have no idea if UPenn's law program is better than Stanford's … honestly, my research doesn't extend as far as Gabriella goes. Next chapter might take a while because my dad said our family computer in Georgia (leaving tomorrow) is shot … uuuuurgh.**

**Oh and props to Bryn Mawr, my college.**


	3. Crowded

**Title: Encore  
Author: jillrocca  
Fandom: High School Musical  
Warning: Self beta'd.**

**Chapter Summary: Troy and Ryan experience their first day of work together at Astrellus Prod's on their show. After a long day on the job Ryan suggests they go for drinks at a local bar. This leads them to an interesting discussion before their conversation is broken up by an unlikely guest.**

**A/N: Sorry if this is too slow paced. I'll have more Chad and Ryan adventures next chapter. Also, sorry this took so long, I got back to school in January and have just been so busy. I also really didn't edit this ... if there are some big errors, I apologize really, I know I shouldn't focus on just getting these things out, but I wanted to be done with chapter so I could move in with Chyan-ness.  
**

**Chapter 3: Crowded**

"Troy!" Richard Astrellus was the second person since he got to Philadelphia to pull Troy into a vice-like grip.

"Mr. Astrellus …" Troy said warily. It was eight in the morning … way too early, especially since he had basically slept until two the previous day, exhausted from unpacking and grocery shopping. Who knew finding a store in the area would be so hard? He eventually found himself outside of Center City and found a random store, bought food and then got lost on the way back to his apartment, but at least he had food, right?

Troy had walked into the studio this morning to see people running left and right trying to get organized. He himself had been ushered into Mr. Astrellus's office where the man had immediately come around his desk and hugged him.

Mr. Astrellus was all business after he finished. He steered Troy out of his office and they walked together as Mr. Astrellus brought him up to speed.

"Got here about ten minutes ago, we're set to do costume fittings, episode run-throughs for the writers and directors, and rehersal for some of the songs the band members will have to perform. I can't wait until you hear the guy we picked as the lead singer, he's spectacular." Mr. Astrellus showed him into a meeting room where a group of people were sitting. Troy couldn't help but smile at the comment made about Ryan.

Mr. Astrellus sat at the head of the meeting table and among the group of people Troy noticed that the head writers, producers, and all the directors were sitting together. Also, Troy noticed the accountant that Mr. Astrellus had hired to help with budgeting for the show and the set designers were there as well. Troy wedged himself between the head writers and Mr. Astrellus got to business.

"We are here this morning for a preliminary budget meeting. I just want to make sure everything is in order in each department and if we happened to miss anything the script and sets require but haven't been able to get, etc, etc." He propped his elbows up and laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them. He looked anxious.

One of the set designers said, "Everything is in order for the first four episodes, but we may need to make a few adjustments to the stage setting … and we forgot to buy a tour bus …"

One of the head writers said to him, "But we don't go on tour until next season ... if we get there."

The set designer sat back. Troy sighed. Astrellus noticed this and said, "Mr. Bolton is right, have some faith Phil. I don't pick up and move all the way over here just to be punched in the face."

Phil, one of the head writers, held up his hands and said, "All right, all right," he sounded exasperated.

Phil was a real pessimist. Troy knew this from interning with Astrellus Productions. Astrellus only held onto Phil because he was a genius writer. He really knew how to warp a scene in just the right image to get the directors to film it right and any actor worked well with his script. Phil morphed actors into the image of the characters with his scriptwriting.

The meeting went well after that. Everything seemed to be in order except for a few missing parts of the sets, like a few lamps, which Astrellus and the accountant authorized money for and as soon as the meeting was over, the set designers raced out to different shops.

Troy followed Astrellus, who gave him his next task. "Now Troy, the actors are being fitted on the second floor, can you go make sure everything is in order and the actors aren't too overwhelmed? Also, when they are done, bring them all to the fourth floor so we can begin the episode run-through? Thanks Troy." Mr. Astrellus didn't wait for an answer because he was then taken by the camera crew to the built-in sets on the ground level and they were running over location shooting and all that …

Troy moved downstairs to the second floor, the meeting was on the sixth where the administrative offices were, and suddenly got excited. Things were finally starting up. Today would be busy as hell, yeah, but he was going to enjoy it like nothing else. He was finally in the field! (Plus the next few days of shooting would be far worse than today. Astrellus told him they'd make whole episodes in eight days or less. Editing included.)

The elevator opened right into the costume area. It was like an episode of Project Runway in here. There was an area for the long sewing tables to sit with their machines on them and there were rows and rows of clothes and in a far corner of the floor were all the actor dressing rooms including one for special guests and one big one for extras that came on the show. Directly to the right of Troy was the make-up station with about five chairs for the actors. The stations were organized now, but just wait until they started filming …

However, none of the actors were in their dressing rooms. They were in the area between the sewing tables and the row of clothes and the costume designers were throwing and pulling clothes on them. The three head costume designers were going back and forth between the five band members and some of the other main characters letting their assistants fit all of them.

Finally Troy saw Ryan. Ryan also saw Troy. Troy waved and smiled right before he noticed Ryan was only in his underwear, then he kind of pulled his hand down slowly and felt his face fall. This was embarrassing.

Ryan smiled embarrassedly too. A fitter said to Ryan, "Okay Ryan, your all set to go." Ryan felt relieved and ran into his dressing room to change back into his clothes. He had not been expecting to see Troy so soon and pretty much naked.

He changed back into his jeans, white oxford shirt and the red sweater vest, grabbed his black pea coat and walked out of his dressing room. He headed over to Troy and smiled at him.

When Ryan reached him Troy said, "The lack of hats is unsettling," he joked. He said it in that sarcastic voice he always used to use back in high school when joking with anyone. Ryan laughed.

He said, "I'll remember that," They smiled at each other before Ryan asked, "So, what are you doing in here?"

"Work?"

Ryan felt embarrassed again, "I know that! I mean, in the costumes …"

"I know what you meant, I'm sorry," Troy smiled again, which made Ryan felt stupidly embarrassed. Troy went on in his sarcastic voice, "Mr. Astrellus wants to make sure that his actors aren't too overwhelmed in the fitting process. He doesn't want you frazzled while we rehearse the script for the first episode."

Ryan chuckled, "When I got here, it was mass chaos. I can't imagine getting to filming. I heard we're rehearsing the songs today?"

"Yeah, Rich wants you guys in the recording studio tomorrow." Troy said with a look of deep sympathy.

Ryan felt tired already. "Great … wait, there's a recording studio in this building?"

Troy nodded, "It's underground. I think they're also using it as part of the set." He explained.

"Oh." Ryan and Troy watched the other actors get fitted. One girl, the bassist character, was taking longer than usual because she seemed to be a little thinner than what the costume designers had bought for her so she was getting re-fitted in all kind of things. A few other main characters like the manager and the producer were having fit troubles with their suits and things.

About an hour later things were finally pinned and under control. Troy could finally lead them all to do the script rehearsal.

Troy called over the people, "Okay everybody listen up! My name is Troy, I'm the assistant director. Mr. Astrella asked me to take you all to a meeting room where we'll rehearse the first episode that you all memorized prior to coming here …" Troy felt like a damn camp counselor. They were staring at him with faces asking 'is this guy for real?' _Awkward._

Ryan made a face.

Troy blushed. "Anyway … just … just follow me, all right?" He tried to roll it off his shoulders, but after this the actors weren't going to take him seriously at all now. Great start. He had always hated Mondays. (Cursed things)

"You were … great!" Ryan said smiling as they pressed their way to the meeting room.

"Don't rub it in." Troy said still feeling embarrassed.

"Hey, just think, when this is all over, Ryan's going to buy you a drink!" Ryan said cheerfully. When Troy didn't respond Ryan said, "A hard drink?" This made Troy laugh a little.

They reached the rehearsal room. Everyone filed in. Troy and Ryan sat next to each other and were handed a script by one of the production assistants. When everyone was silent Mr. Astrella started talking.

He said, "Something out of the ordinary and … sex. HBO _gold_!" Everyone around the room chuckled. Astrella was all business after that. "So, we have a band of extra-terrestrials that feed off of human energy in order to survive. Unfortunately the don't have a bassist tahat they need in order to form a complete band. BUT! Our unfortunate bassist actually agrees without knowing what the rest of the members actually are. They become a rock band to generate human energy at its peak form to survive long periods of time … they have sex as another form of survival … made a little less serious due to the fact that these aliens have no clue about the hard rock scene, they just know it gets them what they need for their mother planet … and we are here to chronicle their journey on Earth," He slammed his hands on the big table and said, "And we better give them a damn good performance or else we're finished." He looked around the room; some people seemed kind of scared. He didn't care though. "Okay? Let's start,"

Ryan turned to Troy and gave him a look that asked, 'Is he _always _like this?' Troy just nodded and made a motion that told Ryan not to talk about it. They both opened their scripts and the rehearsal began.

It seemed to go well, if not for being a little too long. The other directors had some problems with the way some of the actors were saying their lines in certain scenes.

For example …

"You just don't seem angry enough to me …"

"We hired you as a professional! At least try to cry!"

To which Mr. Astrella would say …

"It's just a script run-through!"

"…And again, it's just a script run-through, we can worry about emotions during the actual set rehearsal, chill out."

Mr. Astrellus hung his head in exasperation. He came up from it and held his hands up. He slouched a bit and his eyes looked hazy. He suddenly looked tired. "Come on people ... if we can't get this episode done by the pre-screening party in two weeks, we're done. Might as well take a wrecking ball to this place now, pack up and go back to LA. Throw these actors on the streets. We might as well force feed the writers their own script, it'll be the only food they get here in Philadelphia, of all places to build a franchise …" Troy thought he might have been a little over dramatic now.

However, the effect seemed to work. All the actors, including Ryan, squirmed a little in their seats.

One of the other producers said, "Rich, you gotta be fucking kidding me."

Mr. Astrella only held his hands up and shook his head. He said, "Hey, it's you guys who can't get through a run-through, not me."

The same producer slammed his hands on the table which startled everyone and said, "Do anything to get whatever you fucking want!" He left the room angrily.

Mr. Astrella stared at the door as everyone in the room stared at him and then he looked down at his script and said, "Well, let's continue."

Everyone shifted in their seats before the actors who were previously reciting their lines started up again.

Ryan whipped out his cell phone and wrote in the text box:

**IS HE ALWAYS LIKE THIS?**

He tapped Troy and showed him what he had typed. Troy looked at Ryan and nodded making a face that said, "And you better get used to it. Sorry man."

Ryan made a face and turned back to his script.

The rest of the day was long and tiring. They finally got to the actors standing in a room and having tables and chairs act as their props for a few scenes some of the directors weren't too sure of and then Ryan was in the studio. Ryan was the only one actually working. Sure, the guitar guy actually had some background in the instrument, but they didn't actually play, they were just practicing the choreographed movements to the pre-recorded song music.

Ryan was great. There would be a total of five songs in this season and the music producer was having little to say to him to what he wanted Ryan to do with the song. Troy had forgotten how good Ryan was at singing. This was a good thing and bad thing though. Astrella was so impressed by Ryan that they moved into recording early … which meant that they didn't get out until after eleven at night. Troy had been hoping to get out earlier, he had been told to run around and help where help was needed during the recording, which was so tiring. The camera crews needed help and the lighting crew needed help setting up and the set designers needed help hammering nails … oh, he was so tired.

When Ryan finally got out of the in-house studio, he was beaming and looked wider awake than anyone else.

"Ready for that drink?" Ryan asked Troy when they found each other at the front glass doors to the production building.

"Please, can we go somewhere quiet … that has food?" Troy asked groaning. He had such a headache.

"Yeah, just follow my car." Ryan said sympathetically.

Ryan wound up choosing the White Dog Café. A Place he had found in a little alleyway in Philly while exploring the area around UPenn one day. It was cosy, quiet, small bar, good food … hopefully Troy would appreciate it.

When they reached the place and walked up to the door Troy said, "What's this?"

Ryan pointed to the hanging sign above the townhouse door and said, "The White Dog Café. It's quiet, I hope you'll like it."

They got in and sat down at the bar. They were handed menus and ordered drinks. So far so good. They had their order taken and it came out in about ten minutes. They spent the time talking about work.

Ryan was laughing, "So, the set designers had you painting, they didn't have that all done before?"

"No, of course not, that would be the smart thing to do … I feel like everyone came to work when we did. I mean, Mr. Astrella was building this place, and I thought they would ship supplies and order it to be delivered but … well, my hands are blue." He held one hand up as if proof of what he thought was totally wrong.

Ryan laughed. It was after midnight now. They sat and ate in silence for a little while. Troy had their burger … it was huge. He put it down for a while not wanting heartburn.

"Hey, where do you live?" Ryan asked, not looking up from his salmon burger.

Troy looked over at him, Ryan looked up taking another bite of the sandwich. Troy took up his drink, held it to his lips and said, "Spruce Street."

"Oh, you live near Sharpay." Ryan said as if this might not be a problem at all.

Troy, who was about to take a sip of his drink put it down and looked at Ryan asking if he were serious. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, she lives on Spruce Street with her boyfriend."

"Oh boy," Troy lamented.

"She won't bother you!" He paused, and then said, "Too much … I mean, she doesn't even know you live there … yet." Ryan said.

Troy laughed, but then stopped suddenly. "Wait, who's her boyfriend?" He was surprised. Sharpay didn't bother with boyfriends all high school, at least from what he remembered. He chuckled a little thinking about how Zeke Baylor always chasing her around and trying to win over her affections and failing …

"Do you remember Zeke Baylor?" Ryan asked.

Troy, who was in mid swig or his drink, stopped and spit it out. The bartender glared at him. "Sorry, sorry …" He said hurriedly to the guy who was now wiping up the mess.

"Wait, she's not … he's not … how the hell did that happen?"

Ryan was laughing hysterically. When he finally calmed down he said, "Well, he went to cooking school in New York and Sharpay transferred from U of A to go into NYU's acting program and well … they found each other."

Troy started laughing. He just couldn't see it! Finally, after all these years Zeke finally won Sharpay. And they were living together, that was strange. Maybe Sharpay had changed … a lot.

"I have to see this." Troy said still laughing. "Oh God."

Ryan dropped another bomb: "I think he's going to ask her to marry him."

Troy had trouble swallowing this time as well, but he didn't spit it out. The bartender was still cleaning up the previous explosion.

"Really?" Troy asked. His eyes wide in askance.

Ryan nodded, "Really. He really loves her. Even my parents approve. My dad bought them their townhouse."

"Wow," Troy said. "Wedding of the century …" Troy thought for a moment, remembering how horrible Sharpay was to Zeke sometimes. "Wait so … how did this happen?"

Ryan smiled and began his story in light tones, "Well, Sharpay being Sharpay has probably always liked Zeke, but she's too selfish to show how she felt and then when they met again in New York, it's like her bitch switch switched off,"

Troy gave him a disbelieving look. Ryan shrugged. It was the truth. Ryan remembered the day well. He and Sharpay were shopping in New York one weekend and then she suddenly saw him. It turned out he had gotten into a culinary arts school and was walking home from his apprenticeship at one of the numerous restaurants in the city. They had been dating for almost three years. Ryan couldn't even begin to think about a relationship at such a length. He was busy double majoring at Julliard in acting and dance with a music minor. He had been with a couple of guys but then stopped and focused on his career. He got into some plays while he was at school and had worked in some theaters during summers. Romance had kind of slipped his mind. His life had been so busy he hadn't spared it a thought, but now that he could consider his schedule actually freer than when he was in college he might have thought about it a little.

However, they were not in a bar that Ryan could reasonably seek out guys. The White Dog Café, while being quaint was … well, just that. It was quaint, quiet and looked like you had stepped into someone's house for dinner, but with the quietest sort of people. There was a light buzz about the place with people chattering, but people were mostly keeping to themselves. There was no raucous laughter to be heard. These people took eleven pm to mean late and not early like most people his age.

Oh well. Maybe another time.

Troy looked like he was dead tired. His head was resting on the top of the bottle of his beer … Ryan might have actually heard him snoring a little.

"Troy … Troy!" He called.

Troy shot up at the second mention of his name. "What? What Mr. Astrella …" Troy started to dip back down towards his empty plate. "What can I run for you … this time … sir—"

Ryan laughed. "Okay, let's get you home." Ryan started to tap Troy on the shoulder. Troy started to come back to life. Ryan paid the bill, grabbed Troy's arm and started to steer him out of the restaurant. As he was leaving, the host called behind him, "Thank you for coming ladies."

Two familiar voices of thanks made Ryan turn with Troy in hand to face who it was. It was Gabriella and Taylor. They must have been sitting in the restaurant.

Ryan smiled brightly and said hi and the two women said hello as well not hiding their surprise at seeing Ryan in the same place as they were. Gabriella took one look at Troy and her look of elation fell. Remembering their cold exchange the other day, Ryan's face fell as well. Taylor seemed to sense something too, but they didn't move from where they were standing. Troy was looking hard at Gabriella, evidently very awake now. He shook Ryan's hand off of him and left the restaurant. Gabriella followed him. Ryan and Taylor exchanged a look. They silently linked arms and went outside.

Troy was yelling, "You cheat on me saying you've fallen in love with whoever the hell and then we break up. Six months later, he's a total douche and you beg me to take you back, then four months later of treating me like shit, you dump me saying you've met someone else! I'm done with you!"

"Troy--!" Gabriella screamed. Taylor gasped. Ryan felt numb.

Troy had his hand on his truck door and yelled, "I don't care if you're here to be in law school or whatever the hell, but stay away from me!" Troy got in his truck and slammed the door angrily and took off without a word to anybody else.

Gabriella looked like she was going to cry. Her head was hanging and her arms were at her sides, fists clenched.

Taylor went to Gabriella instantly. Ryan stood where Taylor had left him thinking. He kept remembering high school where Troy and Gabriella were East High's golden couple … shit.

**TBC …**

**Next chapter features Chad/Ryan-ness.**


End file.
